Atrium Lighting

I tell clients all the time that lighting should either be part of the architecture or highlight the architecture in the space whenever possible. Recently, we were given the opportunity to provide lighting as architecture in an existing atrium space. The task was to replace existing light fixtures that were neither the right scale, lamp type or color for the space. It was a classic situation where the electrical contractor supplied something "close" to what was needed and missed by a mile! We see this often on projects, which is why we offer lighting as part of our solution.

We met with the architect and development group to provide a solution. The challenges we had to deal with were tall ceilings, long hours of operation, fixtures needing to have scale, variable drops and a moderate budget. We were able to find a quality fixture in two sizes that had adjustable cable drops. To meet the moderate budget we specified an incandescent fixture with a self ballasted compact fluorescent lamp. By utilizing the self ballasted lamp technology we were able to replace a low voltage lamp that lasted approx. 1,000 hours with a compact fluorescent lamp that lasts approx. 14,000 hours. With the high ceilings, this saved the owner considerably in maintenance costs. We were also able to save energy when we replaced a 50 W lamp with a 13 W lamp. At By Design, our objective is to find the right solution for your needs. We achieve this through functional, architectural and sustainable design for lighting, controls, audio visual, and window shade solutions.